Cooking utensil with removable grip handle

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns a cooking utensil comprising a bowl and a removable grip handle. The bowl comprises over at least part of its periphery a rim projecting outwards from the bowl side wall, at least an orifice for receiving the handle passing through the rim wall, while the handle end comprises an upper part limited by a stop and designed to be inserted from above the orifice up to the stop and a lower part designed to extend beneath the rim. The invention is particularly applicable to cake tins.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cooking utensil comprising areceptacle and a removable handle.

Such utensils are generally pans or frying pans and the removable handlemakes it possible for them to be stored and put into a dishwasher whiletaking up less room.

Such utensils have a housing on their side wall or on a peripheral rimof the side wall for the purpose of receiving one end of the removablehandle. A spring system in this end of the handle makes it possible tosecure the handle in reliable manner to the receptacle, and it isnecessary to apply voluntary pressure on a portion of the system inorder to be able to release the handle.

For safety reasons that type of removable handle is relativelysophisticated and thus comprises a plurality of elements made of avariety of materials, metals and plastics, which elements need to beassembled together, and that means that the product is quite heavy andits cost of manufacture is not negligible. Providing a suitable housingon the receptacle requires successive stamping and welding operations.

Being heavy and relatively expensive, that type of handle is thereforeadapted to receptacles that are themselves relatively heavy and ofsuperior quality, for example stainless steel pans.

Such a handle is not suitable for lightweight receptacles of low cost,such as aluminum pans, even though the advantage of compactness remainsregardless of the quality and the material of the receptacle.

It is probably for this reason that cake or pie molds or tins which areoften made of aluminum or light metal alloy have never benefited fromhaving a handle, even though they would appear to be just as suitablefor receiving removable handles as are pans. Such molds are thereforestill being removed from ovens using an oven cloth or gloves to providea degree of thermal insulation, but often unhygienically because theycome directly into contact with the cake or the pie.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Given this state of the art, the invention proposes making a handledevice suitable for various types of cooking receptacle, not exclusivelylightweight receptacles, the handle device being simple, low cost, andreliable. The invention also proposes providing a receptacle suitablefor receiving said handle.

The invention thus provides a cooking utensil comprising a receptacleand a removable handle adapted to penetrate via one end into a housingin the receptacle.

The utensil is characterized in that over at least a fraction of itsperimeter the receptacle has a rim that projects outwards from the sidewall of the receptacle with at least one handle-receiving orificepassing through the wall of said rim, and in that said end of the handleincludes a top end portion defined by an abutment and adapted to beinserted downwards into said orifice until the abutment is reached, anda bottom end portion adapted to extend under said rim.

As a result, the top end portion of the handle supports the portion ofthe receptacle rim that is situated between the vertical wall of thereceptacle and the edge of the orifice closest to said vertical wall.The edge of the receptacle is thus located between the top and bottomend portions of the handle.

In addition, said abutment is constituted by a setback between said topend portion of the handle and the remainder of the top of the handle,said top end portion extending in a plane that slopes relative to thetop of the handle situated behind the abutment, so as to co-operate withthe wall of the abutment to form an acute-angled V-groove.

With the rim of the receptacle lying essentially on said top endportion, said configuration makes it possible for the receptacle to beheld by means of the handle in a plane that is slightly inclined as isthe plane of said top end portion of the handle relative to thesubstantially horizontal plane of the remainder of the top end portionof the handle, so that the receptacle is held by its own weight againstthe abutment via the innermost edge of the reception orifice.

In a preferred embodiment, said bottom end portion of the handle extendsbeyond said abutment of the top end portion over a distance that issubstantially equal to the distance between the inside edge of the rimto the nearest or innermost edge of the reception orifice.

A receptacle held by the handle is thus pressed via its vertical wallagainst the bottom end portion of the handle, which portion preferablypresents an edge with concave curvature adjacent to the vertical wall ofthe receptacle and particularly adapted to round receptacles such ascake or pie molds or tins, but is also suitable for straight-walledreceptacles such as deep cake tins. An edge with a concave curve willnevertheless provide at least two spaced-apart bearing points on thereceptacle whether its vertical wall is straight or curved, thusachieving greater stability.

Thus, a cooking utensil is provided that includes a handle which canquickly be engaged with or disengaged from the receptacle withoutrequiring a dynamic system including springs, etc.

The handle is thus advantageously made as a one-piece molding of aplastics material that withstands high temperatures, such as apolyamide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages appear from the following description ofthe embodiment described in non-limiting manner.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are respectively a profile view, a plan view, and aview from beneath of a handle of the invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are respectively a section view and a plan view of around receptacle suitable for receiving a handle;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are respectively a section view and a plan view of arectangular receptacle suitable for receiving a handle; and

FIGS. 4A and 4B are respectively a longitudinal section view and a planview of a handle secured to a round or rectangular receptacle, thusshowing a cooking utensil of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

With reference to FIG. 1, the handle 1 is constituted by a one-piecemolding of a plastics material such as a fiber-filled polyamide, that isthermally insulating, that presents good mechanical strength, and thatwithstands high temperatures sufficiently to be able to come intocontact with a metal dish on leaving the oven.

On handle 1, a grip 10 is connected at its end remote from its free endto a fixing portion 20 of generally trapezoidal shape enabling thehandle 1 to be releasably secured to a suitable receptacle 2, 3.

The fixing portion 20 ends in a fork comprising a short top end portion21 and a long bottom end portion 22.

The top end portion 21 is defined by a substantially vertical wall 11that forms an abutment when the handle is inserted into a receptacle, ascan be seen with reference to FIG. 4. This abutment 11 is constituted bya setback between said top end portion 21 and the remainder of the top12 of the handle.

The top end portion 21 extends in a plane that slopes relative to saidtop 12 of the handle situated behind the abutment 11, so as toco-operate with the wall of the abutment 11 to form an acute-angledV-groove.

Furthermore, the top end portion 21 is connected via its bottom wall 15to the main body of the handle 1, leaving an empty space behind theabutment 11, with these dispositions serving purposes that can be seenwith reference to FIG. 4.

The bottom end portion 22 extends beyond the top end portion 21 in aplane that intersects the plane of the top 12 of the handle situatedbehind the abutment 11.

With the handle viewed in longitudinal section, the bottom end portion22 connects to the remainder to the bottom portion 13 of the handle viaa concave curve suitable for receiving an index finger, the bottomportion 13 situated behind that curve, itself presenting convexcurvature for greater comfort in the hand.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the receptacle 2 shown is a round moldof the pie tin type made of aluminum or some other light metal alloy,and its vertical wall 4 has an outwardly projecting peripheral rim 5 inwhich three longitudinal orifices 6 have been cut out to receive thehandle 1, which orifices are spaced apart equidistantly.

The receptacle 3 is a rectangular metal mold of the cake tin typepresenting, like the pie tin 2, a peripheral rim 50 projecting outwardsfrom the top of its vertical wall 40, and each of the two long sides ofthe rim presents a longitudinal orifice 60 in its middle for receivingthe handle 1.

With reference to FIG. 4, in order to take hold of the mold 2, 3 withthe handle 1, the handle is tilted towards the mold so that the top endportion 21 thereof can be inserted downwards into an orifice 6, 60. Theacute-angled V-groove connecting said portion 21 to the remainder of thetop 12 of the handle serves to hook onto the mold 2, 3 thus enabling itto be lifted immediately, with the innermost edge 7, 70 of the orifice6, 60 being held against the abutment 11.

Simultaneously, the outside edge 9, 90 of the rim 5, 50 extends into thespace formed behind the top end portion 21, with the bottom wall 15thereof acting as a secondary abutment for the edge 9, 90.

The bottom end portion 22 extends beneath the peripheral rim 5, 50.Advantageously, it extends beyond the abutment 21 over a distance thatis substantially equal to the distance between the inside edge 8, 80 ofthe rim 5, 50 and the nearest edge 7, 70 of the orifice 6, 60 so as toserve as an abutment for the vertical wall 4, 40.

On its side adjacent to the vertical wall 4, 40 of the receptacle 2, 3,the bottom end portion 22 has an edge 13 with concave curvature so as toenable it to fit against round receptacles or so as to provide at leasttwo bearing points on plane vertical walls.

Because the bottom portion 22 extends in a plane that intersects theplane of the top 12 of the handle behind the abutment 11, the user'shand naturally inclines the grip portion 10 of the handle 1 in such amanner that the horizontal plane on which the receptacle 2, 3 comes intoalignment is not the plane of the top 12 of the handle, but the plane ofthe bottom end portion 22, as can be seen in FIG. 4A.

In the same way as the slope of the top end portion 21 encourages thereceptacle 2, 3 to be held naturally against the abutment 11, titlingthe bottom end portion 22 contributes to holding the receptacle againstthe edge 14.

A cooking utensil is thus provided comprising a receptacle and aremovable handle both of which can be made at low cost, the handle beinga single molding and the housing for receiving it a simple throughorifice.

Naturally, the invention is not limited to the embodiment describedabove, and numerous variants can be applied thereto without going beyondthe ambit of the invention.

Thus, the handle could be of a shape other than a trapezoidal portionrunning into a longitudinal portion. It will be possible to envisagethese two functional portions merging progressively.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cooking utensil comprising: a receptacle and aremovable handle; said removable handle having one end adapted topenetrate into a housing in the receptacle and a top; at least afraction of a periphery of the receptacle having an outwardly projectingrim on a side wall of the receptacle with at least one handle-receivingorifice passing through the side wall of said rim; said one end of thehandle having a top end portion defined by an abutment to be inserteddownwards into said at least one orifice as far as said abutment; saidabutment being constituted by a setback between said top end portion anda remainder of the top of the handle; the one end of the handleincluding a bottom end portion which extends beneath said rim; and theremovable handle comprising a springless, nondynamic system.
 2. Acooking utensil in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the topend portion extending in a plane that slopes relative to a portion ofthe top of said handle situated behind the abutment so as to co-operatewith a wall of the abutment to form an acute-angled V-groove.
 3. Acooking utensil in accordance with claim 1, further comprising said topend portion having a bottom wall and said top end portion beingconnected via said bottom wall to a main body of the handle so as toleave an empty space behind the abutment for receiving an outside edgeof the rim of the receptacle.
 4. A cooking utensil in accordance withclaim 1, further comprising said bottom end portion extending beyondsaid abutment of the top end portion over a distance that issubstantially equal to the distance of a bottom edge of the rim from anearest edge of the at least one orifice.
 5. A cooking utensil inaccordance with claim 1, wherein a side of the bottom end portionadjacent to a vertical wall of the receptacle presents an edge ofconcave curvature.
 6. A cooking utensil in accordance with claim 1,wherein said bottom end portion extends in a plane that intersects aplane containing the top of the handle situated behind the abutment. 7.A cooking utensil in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bottom endportion connects with a remainder of a bottom portion of the handle viaa concave curved wall suitable for receiving an index finger.
 8. Acooking utensil in accordance with claim 7, wherein the handle has abottom wall with convex curvature behind said concave curve.
 9. Acooking utensil in accordance with claim 1, wherein said handle is asingle piece.
 10. A cooking utensil in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid handle is molded out of a plastic material that withstands heat.11. A cooking utensil in accordance with claim 10, wherein said plasticmaterial is a polyamide.
 12. A cooking utensil in accordance with claim1, wherein said receptacle is made of aluminum.
 13. A cooking utensil inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said receptacle is made of a lightmetal alloy.
 14. A cooking utensil in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid receptacle is a round metal mold presenting a peripheral rim havingthree longitudinal orifices for receiving the handle therein distributedin an equidistant manner.
 15. A cooking utensil in accordance with claim1, wherein said receptacle is a rectangular metal mold presenting aperipheral rim in which each of two long sides has a length and alongitudinal orifice for receiving the handle at a middle of saidlength.